EDUCATION - FURTHER EDUCATION
"Approved" college sells diplomas to students and fakes attendance records
Times
22/05/2009
King's College of Management, accredited by the Accreditation Service for International Colleges as a "high quality institution", has been selling diplomas to enable foreign students to extend their stay in Britain.
Colleges set to bear the brunt of cuts
Guardian
19/05/2009
Claims have been made that colleges have been asked by the DIUS to make larger savings than demanded by the Treasury in order to cover an expected overspend of £160m in financial support for university students.
Colleges told to 'big up' building funding requests
Guardian
20/05/2009
A Commons Select Committee has been told that the LSC actively encouraged colleges to be ambitious in their building projects, after initial interest in the capital projects scheme was low.
LSC failed to minute capital cash crisis
Times Educational Supplement
22/05/2009
A Select Committee has heard that the Learning and Skills Council produced "deceitful" records of meetings that delayed internal acknowledgment of the capital funding crisis.
Sham colleges opened door to terror suspects, Multimillion-pound fraud gave students "magic carpet" to UK
Times
21/05/2009
A Times investigation has revealed that thousands of young Pakistanis enrolled as students at a network of sham colleges linked to Manchester College of Professional Studies.
Skills Funding Agency Business Model
LSC
21/05/2009
Outlines the structure and function of the Skills Funding Agency that will manage the Train to Gain Service, including a National Service for Employers. It will also house the National Apprenticeship Service; ensuring a coherent offer for employers.
Stalled colleges to get extra £200m of government cash
Building
22/05/2009
Officials from DIUS and LSC have told a meeting of the UK Contractors Group that 20 - 25 colleges will benefit from additional £200 million which will be transferred from future spending allocations.
Success rates will be affected by changes to scoring system
Times Educational Supplement
22/05/2009
Colleges fear their reputations will be damaged because of unexpected changes to a key performance indicator in the emerging Framework for Excellence.
Tories could foil hopes for vocational degree
Times Educational Supplement
22/05/2009
The extension of colleges' powers to award the proposed title of Bachelor of Vocational Studies by 2012 would be in doubt if the Conservatives win power.
Update on Funding Allocations
LSC
20/05/2009
Geoff Russell, the LSC Chief Executive, has sent a letter to all providers via LSC Regional Directors setting out the current position on funding allocations.
EDUCATION - HIGHER EDUCATION
Denham rejects calls to turn QAA into universities' Ofsted
Times Higher Education
21/05/2009
Calls for the higher education standards watchdog to be reshaped in the mould of Ofsted were rejected by John Denham, the Universities Secretary, as he faced MPs investigating allegations of dumbing down and grade inflation in the sector.
ESRC puts doctoral training in few hands
Times Higher Education
21/05/2009
The shift to focus postgraduate work in 25 university centres from 2011 concerns learned societies.
Expect few new titles in library as sterling's fall pounds acquisitions
Times Higher Education
21/05/2009
40% of university libraries plan cuts to book and journal purchases next year.
Few complaints justified, but some are mishandled
Times Higher Education
21/05/2009
In its annual report the Office of the Independent Adjudicator highlighted that some universities are not handling student complaints effectively and are failing to abide by their own regulations. But the sector should be encouraged by the relatively small number of complaints that were found to be justified.
Genuine overseas students 'denied entry to UK'
Guardian
18/05/2009
The enforcement of complicated new visa laws and 'Great suspicion' of foreign students by UK Border Agency is risking cash flow for higher education, complain business school leaders.
Gifts that grow
Universities UK
21/05/2009
The Universities UK report "Gifts that grow" highlights the efforts of universities in the UK to increase income from voluntary donations.
Lecturers' union calls off ballot for industrial action
Guardian
19/05/2009
Faced with legal threats from 78 university employers, the University and College Union has postponed its ballot for industrial action.
Let universities design new A-levels, Tories say
Guardian
20/05/2009
The Conservatives are considering moves to sideline the existing A-level, amid concerns they produce students who expect to be spoon-fed through university and fail to stretch the brightest pupils. Universities would be encouraged to club together to design tougher alternatives, said the shadow secretary of state for higher education, David Willetts.
More overseas students than thought
Guardian
21/05/2009
There are over 100,000 more overseas students at British universities than previously thought. New British Council figures reveal over half a million international students studied in UK universities last year.
Peer review teeters as experts struggle with burden of work
Times Higher Education
21/05/2009
The peer-review system for allocating research grants is on the brink of breakdown, as research councils struggle to find enough suitable academics willing to review applications.
Persecution (is) complex
Times Higher Education
21/05/2009
The introduction of a managerialist culture has coincided with a rise in accusations of bullying. But is there really more mistreatment, or are academics accustomed to autonomy overreacting to firm management?
Savings drive hits teaching and places
Times Higher Education
21/05/2009
Universities will have £247 million less to spend on teaching than they expected for 2010-11 and will also have 20,000 fewer students to teach.
Top university language departments face harsh cuts
Guardian
21/05/2009
Some of the country's most prestigious universities are facing cuts to their language departments because the government has diverted funding from arts and humanities subjects to protect the sciences.
Universities' crackdown on cheating sparks record number of student complaints
Guardian
18/05/2009
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education announces that increasing number of students are complaining about their universities, mainly with grievances about institutions' appeals processes, or their handling of mitigating circumstances or misconduct matters such as plagiarism.
University challenge
Education Investor
22/05/2009
Student accommodation could be one of the few sectors to come out of the recession unhurt.
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
22 companies shortlisted for £4 billion academies framework
Partnerships for Schools
21/05/2009
Partnerships for Schools has announced the 22 companies shortlisted for the £4 billion framework to procure the design and build of Academies and other educational facilities in local authorities which are not yet engaged with the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
Darling, please
Education Investor
22/05/2009
The schools sector will hope that rumoured Building Schools for the Future funding cuts do not materialise.
DCSF to launch new schools recruitment service
DCSF
20/05/2009
The contract for delivering the new Schools Recruitment Service has been awarded to Tribal. The service is being established to provide a faster, more efficient and standardised application system to recruit all permanent teaching and support staff in England. This programme aims to reduce the cost of advertising and fill school staff vacancies through ‘talent pooling’.
Gifted and talented face further reform - yet again
Times Educational Supplement
22/05/2009
The national programme for the education of gifted and talented children is set for a complete overhaul just two years after the last one. The plans are to be announced in a white paper next month.
Minister heads of SEN protest
Times Educational Supplement
22/05/2009
The Government has promised improved training for all school staff who help children with special educational needs in a bid to appease campaigners backing attempts by backbench MPs to bring in tough new regulations.
Nearly 3,000 school arson attacks in two years
Guardian
22/05/2009
Police were called to deal with almost 3000 arson attacks in UK schools in the last two years. The figures were obtained under freedom of information legislation by the Conservatives who are currently trying to amend the Apprenticeships, Children, Skills and Learning Bill to give head teachers in England the power to ban, search for and confiscate any item they think likely to cause violence or disruption in schools, including lighters and matches.
Should the long arm of the law extend its reach into schools?
Times Educational Supplement
22/05/2009
Since the Safer Schools Partnership was set up in 2002 the presence of police officers in schools has become increasingly common. Ministers want to raise levels of involvement further, but many in the teaching profession remain sceptical.
